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April 26, 2007

Forthcoming PBS program "When Kids Get Life"

A reader sent me this link to news of a forthcoming PBS Frontline special entitled "When Kids Get Life." Here is a description of the program:

The U.S. is one of the very few countries in the world that allows children under eighteen to be prosecuted as adults and sentenced to life without parole. In Colorado, between 1992 and 2005, 45 juveniles between fifteen and eighteen were sentenced to prison without the hope of ever being released. Last spring, the state's legislature eased its tough laws targeting juvenile offenders. The state passed a bill that made parole possible after 40 years in prison, but the measure did not apply retroactively to the 45 former juveniles now in Colorado's prison system. Producer Ofra Bikel visits five young men in Colorado sentenced to life without parole to examine their crimes and punishment, the laws that sanctioned their convictions, and the prospect of never being free again.

Comments

Perhaps PBS should do a special about juvenile murderers who get lenient sentences . . . .

The woman in the CNN building murdered a few weeks ago was killed by a juvenile murderer who spend a scant 5 years in jail for the murder.

Posted by: federalist | Apr 26, 2007 8:59:53 PM

I do not know what a url is so I had to leave
leave it blank. I do not consider my
self that eloguent so all I can say it
when I was watching when kids get life,
cried. I felt so sorry for those in
prision, especially about three that
were abused by there parents and the one\
Andrew Medina which is so unjust of a
sentence. How can we as such an advance
country and society send juveniles to
adult prisions. I am a retired social
worker

Posted by: Dorothy | May 14, 2007 1:32:16 PM

Where's S.cotus when you need him (or her)? Does my proposal to seize members of the family's property "work corruption of Blood"